Bill Maher: GOP ‘has always been an uneasy marriage between the Jesus freaks and the plutocrats’

On tonight’s episode of Real Time, host Bill Maher chatted with panelists Donna Brazile, Jon Meacham, and Jamie Weinstein about recent attempts by some in the GOP — most notably Karl Rove — to “reign in the wild out-there batshit part of the Republican Party and get it back to the old regular batshit part of the Republican Party.” Maher was referring to tea party candidates and politicians such as Todd Akin, Richard Mourdock and water bottle lunging Marco Rubio.

“I think there’s a misconception here. I think people think the Republican Party has gone off the rails because of these social conservative issues and that may be true …but, you know, the Republican Party was always an uneasy marriage between the Jesus freaks and the plutocrats,” Maher said.

Meacham and Brazile agreed with Maher’s point. “You cannot alienate people across this country and still hope to win elections,” Brazile offered.

But the Daily Caller’s Jamie Weinstein, clearly entrenched in “Camp Plutocrat,” complained that Obama has demonized millionaires and billionaires by asking them to pay their fair share of taxes.

About the Author

Roxanne Cooper is the publisher of Raw Story. She has 20+ years experience in media management, marketing, and advertising and has held positions with AlterNet, the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, LA Weekly, San Francisco Bay Guardian, and Stars & Stripes. From 2004-2008, Roxanne published the popular political blog Rox Populi. She lives in San Francisco and you can follow her on Twitter at @AlterRox.